ANALYZING POEMS SYSTEMATICALLY TPCASTT TITLE (ON SPECULATIVE LEVEL) PARAPHRASE (DENOTATION) CONNOTATION (FIGURATIVE DEVICES) ATTITUDE (SPEAKER’S ATTITUDE AND TONE) SHIFT TITLE (AGAIN, THIS TIME ON INTERPRETIVE LEVEL) THEMES
KEY WORDS TO KNOW – ADD TO NOTES Connotation: emotional overtones associated with a word Denotation: Literal meaning of the word Cacophony: Harsh, discordant sounds placed together for effect Euphony: Musical, pleasing sounds placed together for effect
“OUT, OUT” BY ROBERT FROST We have already established a paraphrase for the poem. Time to go deeper and see what makes this poem effective. Added contextual notes: Written during 1916, during the height of the First World War
DECONSTRUCT THE POEM Use TPCASTT if necessary to aid understanding Deconstruct “Out, Out” by Robert Frost, focusing on the following elements: 1. Radiant images 2. Metonymy 3. Consonance (words chosen for emotional effect) 4. Cacophony, euphony and other sound elements 5. Context – does the era in which it was written suggest anything about the poem you had not considered before?